1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computerized system, as well as a computerized method, for scheduling a large number of medical procedures that are implemented using one or more medical apparatuses, such as for scheduling various types of cathlab procedures in a clinic or hospital.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various different types of procedures involving catheterization of a patient are conducted on a daily basis in the cathlab (catheterization laboratory) of a modern clinic or hospital. Such procedures can involve medical imaging with contrast agent injection, such as angiography examinations intravascular stenting procedures, angioplasty procedures such as balloon angioplasty, and many other types of procedures. These different types of examinations and procedures respectively involve different types of medical examination apparatuses, and/or different combinations of medical equipment, to support the examination or treatment. Moreover, each type of procedure has a different time duration associated therewith, and the time duration for conducting the same type of procedure may vary from patient-to-patient dependent on complications that may be associated with each patient's pathological condition and general state of health.
Typically the different procedures in a cathlab are conducted using a relatively expensive imaging apparatus, such as a biplane C-arm, x-ray system, a computed tomography system or, in some instances, a magnetic resonance imaging system. Such systems are very expensive and represent a large investment on the part of clinic or the hospital. It is therefore in the best economic interests of the hospital and clinic to operate these different apparatuses as efficiently as possible, with as little “downtime” as possible. This is also in the best interest of the patient, since such efficient use represents one way to control the cost of such examinations.
Conventionally, generating a daily schedule for such procedures is undertaken manually, possibly with some degree of computer assistance. When a scheduling administrator is notified that a specific cathlab procedure is to be implemented on a specific patient by a specific cathlab team, the administrator either manually makes an estimate of the total time duration that the relevant cathlab equipment will be occupied for the procedure, including any planning that must take place prior to the actual procedure, and any post-procedure monitoring that must follow the procedure. Conventionally, these estimates are derived from experience on the part of the administrator, or possibly from a look-up table or printed document that lists each procedure together with its associated time duration.
Once these time duration estimates are made for each procedure that is to be conducted, computerized systems are known that can organize the various procedures into a sequence so that enough total time exists in the daily schedule to conduct all of the examinations. This scheduling sequence, however, is only as accurate as the estimated times permit. For numerous reasons, the standard time for a procedure obtained from a lookup table or a paper chart, or obtained from the experience of an administrator, may not be accurate for a particular examination by a particular team of a particular patient. If the estimated time duration is excessive, this results in the apparatus that was used to conduct the procedure being idle until the next-scheduled examination time. This represents an inefficient use of the apparatus that can add costs to the total daily operation of the hospital or clinic.
Extra costs may also be associated with an estimate that undershoots the actual occupation time of the medical apparatus because this may result in the operating hours of the cathlab having to be extended beyond normal operating hours in order to complete all of the examinations that have been scheduled for a given day. Not only does this result in inconvenience to the patients and the attending personnel, but also may result in costs associated with personnel overtime, extra energy consumption, or re-scheduling.